Prematurely Air-Conditioned Supermarket

Philip Glass' opera "Einstein on the Beach" is over thirty years old. You might remember part of it (a very short segment of "Knee Play 1") from a 2000 Superbowl Pepsi Commercial.

Last night, I attended the presentation of an abridged version of the musical portion of "Einstein," performed by Glass and his ensemble at Carnegie Hall.

It's very difficult to think of "emotional directness" when confronted with thirty musicians performing a score notated to within an inch of its life. When recorded in a studio, Glass' music tends to lack what you might call a human element. As such, it was a thrill to hear the somewhat-panicked breaths of the sixteen chorus members, to watch the soloists gulp down bottled water, to see Glass himself (at one of the three keyboards) mouthing "one two three one two three one two three," and tapping his feet to keep time. Occassionally throughout the performance I would turn my head to watch the other spectators. They, as I, were agog.

Of particular note was the violin soloist, Tim Fain and the readings of Melvin Van Peebles (Sweet Sweetback himself) whose life of accomplishments, according to his bio, began " at age ten selling second-hand clothes to winos" and later the "Boy Scouts, Astronomy, Youth for Christ, The Strategic Air Command, The Merchant Marine, The Artillery, The Post Office, Cable Cars, Het Nederlands Comedie, ACLU, Cinematique Française, Harkness Ballet, Boston Marathons, Pinochle, the Block, Blues, Dues, Senegalese Police, and Mexican immigration authorities." What a career! What a show!